Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for allowing me time to speak. For at least five or six of the seven years in which I have been talking in this House about our good friends who have had trouble with their houses, nobody here wanted to listen. I welcome this debate and welcome the motion and counter-motion. The debate is bringing the matter to a head. There are two issues being discussed, namely, moving forward in the building industry and sorting out the mess that exists. Deputy Wallace correctly stated that there are enough regulations and that we would not be having this debate if they were implemented. I have every confidence that my Minister's and the Department's work, with the support of a strong Opposition, will result in implementation.

The mess that exists represents a disaster, yet having been involved over recent years I realise it can be sorted out. We have seen circumstances in which people accepted responsibility. It sometimes took three or four years, at a cost of €22 million or €23 million. Two companies fought tooth and nail in a court case, yet they ultimately had to fix the houses in question. One has seen through the years where persons have hidden behind this court case, as it were, whereas some have gone about their business and sorted out the problems, in particular those with pyrite. In the case of many, however, which is what we are dealing with now, there are builders who have gone into liquidation and where the onus is now on the banks. There are builders who continue to work, profit and do well and who have ignored the problems and the plight of these people.

Mr. Brendan Tuohy is heading up this report which will be issued and we will all receive the up-to-date information. I look forward to what will happen when it issues in the next couple of weeks. The Government has made it quite clear that it will not let people walk away from their responsibilities, as they are doing at the moment. There are the banks which have blacklisted estates in my county and in other counties. It is scandalous. It is not acceptable for them to say they will deal with persons individually. It is not acceptable for insurance companies to engage in delaying tactics by not paying out. It is not acceptable for builders who are in business and want to continue in business to ignore the plight of these people.

A minimum of 77 estates are suffering with pyrite. If each estate is broken down into its own divisions, regardless of whether a bank, a builder or whoever is in control, each estate can be sorted out. We, as a Government, know we have a responsibility.

It was not the intention of some of these persons that this would happen. Mention was made of those in houses that have been badly built. Those were cowboy builders. In some cases, however, there were very good builders who got caught in a situation, in particular, in the case of pyrite, which could have been dealt with in 2004, 2005 and 2006 when the issue arose. While some have been caught, much could have been done in those years.

As I stated previously in this House, the situation was ignored by the previous Government, including by the Green Party. Its members did not want to discuss it. I and other Deputies, perhaps one or two of whom are present and some of whom are seated behind me, were ignored, the building was allowed to continue and there was no regulation.

There are two issues, one of which is moving forward. We are at a lull in the building sector. We have time to regulate and, as Deputy Wallace stated, to put in place a situation where enforcement is strict and, as Deputy Boyd Barrett stated, is applied from start to finish. It can work. We have a job to do that. The building sector will come again. One already sees the steadiness in my area and in the house market in the Dublin area. We will need more houses.

On the plight of those affected, I have gone beyond the emotion of it because I have been in the houses concerned and we have sorted them out, including bigger estates. I would warn the banks, the builders, the insurance companies and the building federation that they will not be allowed hide on this one and they have a moral responsibility. They know the Government will not foot the bill for everybody. That cannot and will not be done, but those who are still in business can do it. We have seen in Ashwood estate, where a liquidator was appointed, how the banks could act within two hours. They stated they had no money to act. They were able to act within two hours when the pressure was applied. It is my intention, with the support of all in Government, to force these people to remedy the houses that have been damaged by pyrite, and not to do it in four or five years' time. As I stated earlier, it can be done, estate by estate. There are enough people and there is enough money within the sector still to fix these houses.

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